Non-EU international students can be charged above the £9000 tuition fees cap, leading to claims that they are being used by British universities to "prop up" university budgets. But yesterday’s world rankings saw Asian universities make substantial gains – in contrast to many UK institutions – prompting fears that international students will turn their backs on British universities.

“Any university chancellor who thinks their numbers of Asian students will be anything like where they are today in 20 years time is living in a fantasy world,” said Terence Kealey, vice-chancellor at the private University of Buckingham. “They [Asian universities] will grow faster than we possibly can – it’s easier to catch up than to be a pioneer. These are highly industrious and cultured people, and with all that we will inevitably see the rise of Eastern universities.

He added: “It’s very desirable that these countries will educate themselves – it’s a form of cultural imperialism to expect them not to.”

Although US and UK universities remain dominant in the top 200 – they share 107 places between them – Asia’s leading institutions made big gains in this year’s rankings, building on impressive improvements in recent times. For instance, South Korea has four universities in the top 200, all of which improved their rankings this year by an average of almost 24 places apiece.

Hong Kong also has four universities in the top 200 THE world university rankings, while Singapore’s two leading institutions made large gains. And although China still boasts only two universities in the top 200 – both of which also climbed the rankings – a small set of universities known as the ‘C9’ group which have been earmarked for considerable financial investment are likely to enter the upper tiers soon. China currently sends more students to British universities than any other country, including EU members.

“People talk about the Asian century and a shift in the global balance – these rankings are the first very hard, scientific data that has borne that out,” said Times Higher Education rankings editor Phil Baty. “Universities in places such as Hong Kong and Singapore are becoming real global brands.”

He added: “At one stage an Asian student whose parents had saved up for their whole lifetime would only have looked at the US, UK and maybe Australia. Now they are much more likely to stay in Asia, circulating around the region. That’s going to be a serious challenge.”

However, Kealey played down any immediate fears: "It will still be an advantage to study in a native English-speaking setting, being taught by a native English speaker. Over the next few decades universities in the US, UK and Australia will retain a significant advantage."

But a former vice-chancellor recently claimed British universities had been "using foreign students as cash cows", and that some students she had met had such poor standards of English that they “wouldn’t scrape a GCSE”.